The present invention relates to wall construction for buildings and houses and the like, and preferably to wall construction using relatively short vertical framing members or sections compared to overall height of a wall.
Masonry construction for building walls has been used for a long time, and is particularly strong, being based on a simple principle of considering only vertical compression forces. Such masonry walls avoid the buckling problem associated with walls made of vertically long and relatively slender materials such as wood studs and columns. However, masonry walls are generally heavy and the walls are relatively thick.
Wall construction using wooden or steel studs is based on different structural concepts, such as columns, frame members and so on, which structural concepts are generally more complicated than that of masonry construction. The complications are due mainly to the use of vertically long and slender materials, such as dimensional lumber (e.g., 2xc3x974""s and 2xc3x976""s) or steel studs, and the design must take into account possible buckling of these frame members.
Of course, wooden and steel wall construction is generally of less weight than masonry. Wooden wall construction also uses different, and perhaps more precious (in some areas) natural resources, such as dimensional lumber of about eight feet in length.
The present invention provides a wall construction made of box like members or sections, preferably made of wooden or metal materials, without the necessity of considering complicated structural details. This is done by applying relatively simpler masonry construction principles to wooden and steel stud construction materials. According to the present invention, one has to consider generally only compression forces of the building, like that of a masonry building, even though the primary material is preferably wood, metal or other material other than masonry.
The present invention achieves this by avoiding the use of vertically long and slender materials such as eight foot dimensional 2xc3x974xe2x80x3 or 2xc3x978xe2x80x3 lumber or eight foot steel studs in the vertical orientation.
Another advantage provided by the invention is that one can use wooden resources more efficiently than conventional wooden constructions because the invention uses relatively short component materials. For example, the use of long timber is not needed, and instead 2xc3x974 lumber on the order of 15 or 20xe2x80x3 long can be used enabling use of wood residues heretofore largely unusable, thus saving precious natural resources.
According to the present invention a wall construction is provided, comprising block sections arranged side by side horizontally, and stacked vertically to form the vertical extent of a wall, each block section defining a central block opening, wherein said side side block sections are joined by fastening plates which connect at least two adjacent block sections.
According to the present invention a wall construction is provided, comprising block members arranged side by side horizontally, and stacked vertically to form the vertical extent of a wall, each block member comprising a bottom plate, a top plate and two side studs defining a central block opening, wherein said side by side block members abut each other and are joined by fastening plates which overlap the top plates and bottom plates of abutting block members.
In one embodiment, the bottom plate, top plate, side studs and fastening plates of each block member are preferably made of wood pieces. The wood pieces are preferably pieces of 2xc3x974xe2x80x3 dimensional lumber. The side studs of each block member are each preferably about 15-20xe2x80x3 in length; and the bottom plates and top plates are each preferably about 30-40xe2x80x3 in length. The number of block members stacked vertically in one wall construction is preferably about five, such that for a wall 8 feet or 96xe2x80x3 high, each block member would be about 19xe2x80x3 high.
The overlapping fastening plates are preferably joined to the block members by fasteners. The fasteners are preferably dowels which are inserted in aligned holes in the top and bottom plates, and fastening plates.
The block members may be substantially free of support members in the central block openings, or may have a vertical and/or horizontal brace in the central block openings.
The vertical brace may comprises a vertical wood piece, and the horizontal brace may comprise a horizontal wood piece.
The brace may comprises a panel extending substantially throughout the entire central opening.
According to another aspect of the invention a wall construction is provided, comprising block members arranged side by side horizontally, and stacked vertically about five block members high to form the vertical extent of a wall, each block member comprising a bottom plate, a top plate and two side studs defining a central opening, wherein said side by side block members abut each other and are joined by fastening plates which overlap the top plates and bottom plates of abutting block members, said bottom plates top plates, side studs and fastening plates being made of 2xc3x974xe2x80x3 dimensional lumber wood pieces, said wherein said fastening plates are attached to the fastening plates by fasteners.
The fasteners may be dowels inserted into aligned holes in the top and bottom plates, and fastening plates.
Each of the block members may be substantially free of support members in the central openings, or may have a brace in the central block opening. The brace may be a panel extending substantially throughout the entire central block opening.
The brace may also be a vertical brace member extending between the top plate and bottom plate, and may include a horizontal brace member extending between the side studs.